Still the One: Shania Twain arrives in Calgary while in midst of a career reinvention
In Andrea Warner's essay Shania Twain: Bad Feelings, Bare Midriffs and Breaking Ground, the music critic writes about the strong feelings she had about Twain when she was a teenage music buff and budding feminist.
Article content
Strong and strongly negative.
Article content
'As a teenager, I couldn't stand Twain,' Warner writes in her book of essays, We Outta Know: How Celine, Shania, Alanis and Sarah Ruled the '90s and Changed Music.
Article content
Article content
'I vehemently objected to her brand of coy, sexy country-pop that I felt pushed women's equality back ten or fifteen years. I wrote her off as a construct of male fantasy: A girl who could ride a horse while showing off a perfectly sculpted bare midriff by day and slip into some sort of cleavage-baring cocktail dress at night, the emphasis always on her sex appeal first, relatability second, and talent third.'
Article content
Article content
Warner updated her book in 2024, but it first came out in 2015. That was 22 years after Twain first 'hit the country music industry like a grenade' and became one of the most successful musicians in the cosmos.
Article content
Now an associate producer with CBC Music, her updated essay on Twain celebrates the artist as a feminist force whose wild success gave value to women, female artists and forever changed the industry. She also offers a detailed appraisal of Twain's music and suggests that even her earliest work had merit, showcasing her significant chops as a songwriter.
Article content
Article content
'As a teenager, I had embarrassingly negative feelings,' says Warner, in an interview from her home in Vancouver. 'I was . . . coming into my own understanding of feminism and I had this idea that I couldn't love Alanis Morissette and Sarah McLachlan and also have any space at all and good feelings or goodwill towards Shania Twain and Celine Dion.
Article content
'It's super embarrassing now, in hindsight, but it came from an honest place when I was a teenager. It was very difficult for me to wrap my brain around the songs she was singing and the things that I was taking lyrically from her music, which seemed to me to be all about love, all about getting a man. All of these different things that I thought were antithetical to me as a very young 16-year-old feminist.'
Article content
It doesn't take long into the essay for Warner to admit she was off base. She now sees Twain as an artist who used 'skillful manipulation of the surface to push her subversive, secret agenda — an agenda that would change country music, for a little while at least, and give rise to a new generation of women writing their own material.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Edmonton Journal
16 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
Still the One: Shania Twain arrives in Calgary while in midst of a career reinvention
Article content Warner said the past decade or so has seen Twain reinvent herself while asserting her place in music history and stressing that it was her, not Lange or industry power brokers, that steered her career. The Netflix documentary is a case in point. Article content 'The bio doc allowed her to set the record straight about things that people hadn't really known before,' said Warner. 'The fact that she was editing her music videos, the fact that she was the architect of all those iconic outfits. Article content 'Obviously there is a team there, but she is having a central role in everything. I think that had largely been missing. She hadn't taken necessarily public ownership of that information before, for who knows what reason. Article content 'Now she is here telling her own story. I think with her last record, Queen of Me, she really believed in that title and showed up on that album in a way that told us that she feels good about who she is right now. That's hard to do for any of us, let alone someone who has been extremely famous in the public eye. Article content Article content 'Just because you are beautiful and talented doesn't always mean you feel good about yourself. It's really wonderful to see her come into her own.' Article content Maybe she will drop in. Jesse Moffatt, NMC's director of collections and exhibitions, doesn't believe Twain has ever set foot in the centre, but she is well-represented within its walls, and rightly so. Article content Twain was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2011, but has not yet been inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. The National Music Centre is the physical home of both institutions. Article content Article content 'If you think of Canada's biggest stars, Shania is definitely one of the top ones,' says Moffat. 'I think by last count, hasn't she sold 100 million albums? To put that in perspective, Nickelback is huge and I think they are at 60 million. Article content Article content 'It's pretty impressive in what she has been able to accomplish.' Article content Among its hundreds of artifacts, the National Music Centre has both the Toronto Maple Leaf and Ottawa Senator-inspired outfits that Twain wore when hosting the 2003 Juno awards in Ottawa. Article content The centre also has a signed halter top that Twain wore during her first stadium tour in 1998. Article content The custom-made ball gown she sported at the 2018 Canadian Country Music Association Awards in Hamilton, Ont., is currently on display in the centre's Idols and Icons exhibit. Article content 'For someone who grew up in the 1990s, when she came on the scene she just exploded,' Moffat says. 'I think she redefined what country music could be. Article content
Calgary Herald
a day ago
- Calgary Herald
Still the One: Shania Twain arrives in Calgary while in midst of a career reinvention
Article content In Andrea Warner's essay Shania Twain: Bad Feelings, Bare Midriffs and Breaking Ground, the music critic writes about the strong feelings she had about Twain when she was a teenage music buff and budding feminist. Article content Strong and strongly negative. Article content 'As a teenager, I couldn't stand Twain,' Warner writes in her book of essays, We Outta Know: How Celine, Shania, Alanis and Sarah Ruled the '90s and Changed Music. Article content Article content 'I vehemently objected to her brand of coy, sexy country-pop that I felt pushed women's equality back ten or fifteen years. I wrote her off as a construct of male fantasy: A girl who could ride a horse while showing off a perfectly sculpted bare midriff by day and slip into some sort of cleavage-baring cocktail dress at night, the emphasis always on her sex appeal first, relatability second, and talent third.' Article content Article content Warner updated her book in 2024, but it first came out in 2015. That was 22 years after Twain first 'hit the country music industry like a grenade' and became one of the most successful musicians in the cosmos. Article content Now an associate producer with CBC Music, her updated essay on Twain celebrates the artist as a feminist force whose wild success gave value to women, female artists and forever changed the industry. She also offers a detailed appraisal of Twain's music and suggests that even her earliest work had merit, showcasing her significant chops as a songwriter. Article content Article content 'As a teenager, I had embarrassingly negative feelings,' says Warner, in an interview from her home in Vancouver. 'I was . . . coming into my own understanding of feminism and I had this idea that I couldn't love Alanis Morissette and Sarah McLachlan and also have any space at all and good feelings or goodwill towards Shania Twain and Celine Dion. Article content 'It's super embarrassing now, in hindsight, but it came from an honest place when I was a teenager. It was very difficult for me to wrap my brain around the songs she was singing and the things that I was taking lyrically from her music, which seemed to me to be all about love, all about getting a man. All of these different things that I thought were antithetical to me as a very young 16-year-old feminist.' Article content It doesn't take long into the essay for Warner to admit she was off base. She now sees Twain as an artist who used 'skillful manipulation of the surface to push her subversive, secret agenda — an agenda that would change country music, for a little while at least, and give rise to a new generation of women writing their own material.'
CBC
13-06-2025
- CBC
4 memorable moments from Kendrick Lamar and SZA's Toronto concert
Social Sharing The great rap beef of 2024, Kendrick Lamar versus Drake, still appears to be alive after the first night of Kendrick Lamar's two-date run in Drake's hometown of Toronto at the Rogers Centre — an arena that Drake has never headlined. When Kendrick Lamar and SZA announced the Grand National tour back in February, fans immediately noticed the rap titan and R&B superstar would make a stop in the Canadian rapper's city and made jokes about Drake sabotaging the show. And although Drake was physically absent from the venue, his presence was certainly felt before and during the concert, where CBC Music was on hand to witness it all. Near the beginning of the show, Lamar asked, "Toronto, you ready to party?" and party he did, showing off his dexterous flow and exuding swagger, proving to the thousands in the crowd that he is a rapper at the top of his game. The audience energetically screamed along the whole way through, during career-spanning songs such as Backseat Freestyle, DNA, tv off, Alright, Money Trees and more. And despite no special guests (Justin Bieber recently performed Snooze with SZA at the Los Angeles stop) or wild surprises, the show was a blockbuster production: Lamar and SZA performed like athletes, tapping into their stamina to rap, sing, dance and prance across the stage, accompanied by flaming pyrotechnics, fireworks and a small army of backup dancers. From the crowd's reaction to Lamar's diss tracks to a heartwarming duet with SZA, these are the four moments from the concert that we can't stop thinking about. 1. Several Drake diss tracks made the crowd go wild From rapping his feud-igniting verse on Like That — the song where Lamar tells J. Cole and Drake, "Motherf--k the big three, n---a, it's just big me" — to gliding across the stage while rapping "I like Drake with the melodies, I don't like Drake when he act tough" on Euphoria, Lamar kept a number of Drake diss tracks on the setlist. The most anticipated moment was easily Not Like Us, the Grammy-sweeping, chart-topping Drake diss that dominated last year, which was performed near the end of the concert and sent the crowd into a frenzy. Lamar didn't skip a beat, rapping, "Say, Drake, I hear you like 'em young/ you better not ever go to cell block one," and " Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles." As the song ended, he stood still under the spotlight for several minutes as the crowd began to chant "Kendrick, Kendrick," over and over again, before chanting "One more time," hoping for a repeat of his L.A. concert last year, where he performed the song five times. While standing for long enough that he appeared to potentially be entertaining the idea, Lamar did not play Not Like Us again, and instead, SZA returned to the stage to join him in singing their love song, luther. 2. SZA's semi-apology to Torontonians The audience went wild after SZA said, "Toronto, I owe you!" in reference to her previously cancelled concerts in the city. In October 2023, the Grammy winner infamously postponed her show at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena just minutes before doors opened, citing illness. "I only want to give you guys 100 per cent, and that's what you deserve, and I won't give you any less than that. I promise you I will come back to Toronto and make it up," she said in a video shared at the time. The show was rescheduled for December 2023, but was later cancelled. 3. All the Stars lit up the venue Lamar and SZA performed several of the tracks they each feature on during the lengthy set, including 30 For 30, Doves in the Wind, gloria and luther — however their hit All the Stars created one of the most magical moments of the night. As the two performed the Black Panther song across from each other on the stage's catwalk, the crowd held up their phones with their flashlights aglow, creating a sea of stars from the floor all the way up to the nosebleeds. It was one of the most unifying moments of the night that didn't involve dissing Drake. 4. Several Drake features remained on the setlist In the years prior to Lamar and Drake becoming foes, they appeared on a few collaborations together, including Buried Alive Interlude, A$AP Rocky's F--kin' Problems and Poetic Justice, the latter of which Lamar had performed during other shows on the tour. Poetic Justice remained on the setlist for the Toronto show, although it was a condensed version with only Lamar's parts. In a slightly melancholic moment, it reminded the crowd of simpler times — in this case, 2012, which was when it was released — more than a decade before the two rappers were adversaries. SZA also nodded to Drake with a dance-filled segment of his 2023 song Rich Baby Daddy, which she features on. She sung the song's chorus, which mentions him by name: "Shake that ass for Drake (yup), now shake that ass for me," and then her dancers (who were dressed as insects) gyrated and twirled.
